Shoulder protector for garment supporters



June 2, 1942. 2,2853%v SHOULDER PROTECTOR FOR GARMENT suPPoR'rE FiledJune 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 2, 1942- G. SM|TH 2,285,368

SHOULDER PROTECTOR FOR GARMENT SUPPORTERS Filed June 6, 1940 '2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 2, 1942 V V z SHOULDERIPROVTEGTOR nonGARMENT f SUPPORTERS.

was Goodrich Smith, Atlanta, Ga. Application uliet, 1940; Serial No.339,175 5:0laims (01. 2-3

This invention relates to garment'supporters and particularlytoshoulderstraps for supporting womens garments, such as brassires andcorselets, which in some'cases are required to carry considerableweight.

the shoulder str'apspressin'g too strongly 'on the shoulder, especiallyat the highest point or ridge,

form into practically a stringwhich causes; as much discomfort as anarrow band. Further more, such wide bands are unsightly, and'thusundesirable particularly. for evening wear when, depending on theparticular fashion .in vogue, the shoulders are more or less exposed.Another,

attempt to solve this difiiculty has been by the use of two straps foreach shoulder. In practice, however, it is found that the two strapswill move together to the lowest point ofthe shoulderso In such casesthe 'wearer, has oftentimes been subjected to discomfort from 1 perportion of the body of a woman wearing 'a brassiresupported by shoulderstraps according to oneembodiment of the invention;

. Fig. 2 is an enlarged View, of part of the shoulder' strap of abrassiere or corselet showing a rigid weight-distributing memberadjusted and secured at one position;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to 2 with the rigid weight-distributing m 'mbersecured at a different angle to suit the wearer;

Fig; 4 is a plan viewof part of a garment shoul der strap accordingtoanother embodiment of the invention, the ends of the transverse rigidmemher being located inpockets but not. fixedly secured in position, andshowing in broken lines another position of adjustment of the rigidmomher; a Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view. on theline 5.-5 of Fig.4;

i Fig. 6 is a plan view of a detail of one end of the rigid membersecured in adjusted position by that all of the weight is carried alongasingle line just as if only one'strap were provided. Furthermore, evenif the two straps were kept apart by frequent adjustment, it would befound that most of the time all of the weightwould be car-, ried by onlyone of the straps,'dependi ng on the position of the shoulder at theparticular instant;

An object of'this invention is to provide shoul der straps for womensgarments which will not cause discomfort to the wearer.

Another object of this invention is to provide,

a shoulder strap which will eliminate the discomfort by "properlydistributing (the weight carriedby the strap over a larger areaof theshoulder at the portion thereof where the discomfort would be likely toarise. v 7

A further object ofthis invention is to control the direction of the,distribution of the weight along the ridge of the shoulder-,I and tosuit the direction of distribution to the"conform ity of the shoulder ofthe. individual perspn. V

Still another object of this inventionis to provide means fordistributing the weight carried by garment shoulder straps to avoiddiscomfort, which means is relatively. j inconspicuous and which isadapted to bemade'attractive and ornamental.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several embodiments ofthe invention f Fig. 1, is a diagrammatic view showing the.up-

stitching, the rest of the device being omitted for simplicity;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a modified means for attaching an end of arigid member in adjusted position;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a further modification of weight-distributingdevice attached to an undivided shoulder strap; I I v Fig. 9 is asectional view on line 9 -9 of Fig. 8; and

'Fig. 10 is a view from the underneath side of a modified form of thedevice which is attachable to an undivided shoulder strap by snapfasteners.-

In the drawings, numeral 1 indicates a womans 'garmentadapted to supportthe breasts and is herein shown as a brassiere, but it is to beunderstood that other garments for this purpose,

, the inventionin which a flat rigid member 4 is secured at its middleportion to a shoulder strap 2 by means of a strip of cloth or a patch 6sewed to the shoulder strap 2 at its ends by lines of stitches 1. It isto benoted that the rigid mem ber' l lies at an oblique angle withrespect to the 2 direction of the shoulder strap, and it is secured inthis position by lines of stitches 8 extending along its edges. Theangle of the rigid member with respect to the strap should be adapted tobest suit the individual who will wear the garment, and to this end thestitches 8 are usually omitted when the garment is manufactured and areapplied either by the purchaser or by the merchant at the time of sale.Ordinarily the wearer will want the rigid member to extend as nearly aspossible along the highest ridge of the shoulder. Fig. 3 shows the rigidmember secured at a different angle.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 4 the shoulder strap 2is itself divided at a position where it passes over the ridge of theshoulder, and each part 2 of the divided strap is folded over on itselfalong a longitudinal line and the edges are stitched together asindicated by numeral 9 except toward the center II where the edges areleft free so as to form open pockets I 2 for reception of the ends ofthe rigid member 4. The lengths of the free open ends are greater thanthe width of the ends of the rigid member 4 so that the rigid member canbe adjusted angularly to the proper position to suit the individual.rigid member in another position of adjustment. Fig. 6 shows one end ofthe ends of the rigid member secured in position by stitching [3. ThepartsZ include forward sections 3 and 3*, arranged upon the forward sideof the member 4 and converging forwardly from the member 4. The parts 2also-include rear sections 3 and 3 arranged upon the rear side of themember 4 and converging rearwardly. The section 3 is shorter than thesection 3 while the section 3 is longer than the section 3 whereby thepockets 12 are staggered and will hold the member 4 transverselyinclined with respect to the shoulder strap 2.

Fig. '7 shows a part of an embodiment of the general type in which thestrap is divided at the portion passing over the shoulder somewhatsimilar to that shown in Figs. 4 and 5, but instead of the dividedportions being folded on themselves to form the pockets for the ends ofthe rigid member 4, the pockets are formed by strips or patches offabric [4 being sewed to the strap portions 2 by stitching along theends l6 and along the outer edges IT. The inner edges are left free foradjustably receiving the ends of the rigid member, and after the rigidmember is placed in proper angular position to suit the individual, theends are made fast against movement by applying stitching 18 extendingalong the edges of the ends of member 4.

In Fig. 8- an embodiment of the invention is shown which differs fromsome of the preceding embodiments in that the straps of the garment arenot divided at the shoulder ridges, but special securing wing straps l9are secured by their ends to the garment straps 2 by sewing at 2|. Thewing straps [9 are doubled over longitudinally, and the edges are sewedtogether except at the center portions thereof where pockets are leftfor reception of the ends of rigid members 4.

The pockets may initially be left oversized similarly as explained inconnection with the previous embodiments, and upon or after sale theends are secured in the required position by transverse stitching withthe rigid member at the proper angle for the individual who will wearthe garment. Obviously, instead of the straps 19 being folded overlongitudinally, the straps The dotted lines illustrate the shown in Fig.9. The wing straps 19 include forward sections 19 and I9, disposed uponthe forward side of the member 4 and converging forwardly from the same.The wing straps l9 include rear sections [9 and I9 disposed upon therear side of the member 4 and converging rearwardly from the same. Thesame pockets l2 are provided at the meeting ends of the sections 19 19;and l9, I9 The forward section l9 is shorter than the forward section l9while the section I9 is longer than the section 19 The pocket I2 to theleft, Figure 8, is therefore nearer the forward ends of the sections I9and I9 than the pocket l2 to the right, Figure 8.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 10 the arrangement is similar to that ofFig. 8 except that the ends of wing straps l9 are secured together andare removably attached to strap 2 by snap fasteners 22. The wing strapsl9 are identical with the wing straps l9, except for the manner ofattachment with the shoulder strap 2. One wing strap l9 includes thesections I9 and 19 and the pocket l2. And the other wing strap 19*includes the section l9 and I9 and the pocket 12. The lengths andarrangements of the sections of the wing straps and of the pockets inFigure 10 is identical with that shown in Figure 8.

What I claim is:

1. A pull distributing device for use in connection with the shoulderstrap 'of a bust supporter or the like, said device comprising wingstraps, said wing straps including forward sections which convergeforwardly and are of different lengths and rear sections which convergerearwardly and are of different lengths, a stiff member secured to onewing strap adjacent to the inner ends of the sections of such wing strapand secured to the other wing strap adjacent to the inner ends of thesections of such other wing strap, the outer ends of the forwardsections being adapted to be secured to the shoulder strap, and theouter ends of the rear sections being adapted to be secured to theshoulder strap, the arrangement being such that the stiff member may bearranged beneath the shoulder strap and held by the wing straps in aninclined transverse position with respect to the shoulder strap.

2. A pull distributing device for use in connection with the shoulderstrap of a bust supporter or the like, said device comprising wingstraps, each wing strap having forward and rear sections of differentlengths, the short section of one wing strap being disposed adjacent tothe long section of the other wing strap, the forward sections of thewing straps converging forwardly toward their outer ends and the rearsections of the wing straps convergingrearwardly toward their outerends, said wing straps having pockets adjacent to the inner ends oftheir sections, a stiff member having its ends held within the pockets,the forward ends of the forward sections being adapted to be secured tothe shoulder strap, and the rear ends of the rear sections being adaptedto be secured to the shoulder strap, the arrangement being such that thestiff member may be arranged beneath the shoulder strap and held by thepockets in an inclined transverse position with respect to the shoulderstrap. v

3. A pull distributing device for use in connection with-the shoulderstrap of a bust supporter or the like, said device comprising wingstraps, each wing strap having forward ama rear sections of differentlengths, the short section of one wing strap being disposed adjacentf'tothe long section of the other wing strap, theforward sections of theWing straps converging forwardly toward their outer ends and havingtheirjouter ends secured to the shoulder strap and the rear sections ofthe wing straps converging rearwardly toward their outer ends and havingsuchouter ends secured to the shoulder strap, said wing straps havingpockets adjacent to the inner ends of their sections, and a stiff memberhaving its ends held within the pockets, the arrangement being such thatthe stiff member will beheld by the pockets in an inclined transverseposition with respect to the shoulder strap.

4. The combination with the shoulder strap, of a bust supporter or thelike which extends over the ridge of the shoulder and passes to the,front and back of the body of a pull device from the shoulder strap anddisposed adjacent to and ex- V neaththe shoulder strap adjacent to theridge of tending longitudinally of the shoulder strap, said 7 devicecomprising a stiff member disposed bethe shoulder and extendingtransversely of the shoulder strap outwardly beyond the longitudinaledges of the shoulder strap, a pair of flexible straps extendinglongitudinally of the shoulder strap and having their intermediateportions secured to the member near its ends,

and mean for attaching the ends of the longitudinal straps upon eachside of the stiff mem-v ber with theshoulder strap at a point remotefrom the stiff member. I

5. A supporting device comprising a shoulder strap extending over theridge ofthe'shoulder and passing to the front and back of the body, astiff member disposed beneath the shoulder strap adjacent to the ridgeof the shoulder and extending transversely of the shoulder strapoutwardly beyond the longitudinal edges of the shoulderstrap, wingstraps extending longitudinally of the shoulder strap and havingtheirintermediate portions secured to the still" member, the wing strapshaving forward forwardly convergingsections and rear rearwardlyconverging sections, means for securing the outer ends of the forwardsections to the shoulder strap, and means for securing the outer ends ofthe rear sections to the shoulder strap.

LOUISE GOODRICH SMITH.

